Manufacture of transparencies



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May `25 1926.

#Jv/Mg, ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 25, 1926A.

- UNITED STATES i EDWARD H. PENCE, 0F PORTLAND,

P'ATENT OFFICE.

MANUFACJURE oF 'rnANsPAnENcms Application tiled April 28, 1922. Serial No.I 557,112.

combined with intermediate particles of preferablytranslucent material, as. for example, crushed or powdered glass, in any 5 varlety of form and color desired, the same being massed and united by a suitable cement, preferably of a transparent orinvisible kind.

I have discovered' that many varieties of 0 sea shells which ordinarily present a drab and dull appearance may be made freely translucent by removal of their natural outer coating, l or the leathery skin that covers them and that after such treatment they "5 develop upon passage of light through them colors of extraordinary beauty, even though after the treatment, without illumination, their exterior may be little changed in appearance from what it was before treatment. 0 Their nature renders some shells available for such ornamental use even without treatment, undei` any condition which will afford alight bright or strong enough to develop to the eyegtheir latent beauties. Besides` in 5 the choice and arrangement of the individual constituent elements of my manufacture, a fruitful field .for the exercise of the artistic faculty is presented.

My inventlon contemplates the manu ac-- *o ture of compositesheets of the general 'description above given, which, without 1mpairment of their beauty for use as transparencies, may be strengthened by being builtl upon a plate, or between plates of trans-` f5 parent homogeneous material, such for eX- ample as ordinary sheet glass. f

Other objects of my invention willvbe apparent from the following specification wherein what constitutes my invention is 50 'first described in detail and then succinctly 'set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying ldrawing I illustrate, for the purposev of exemplication only, a

lamp shade which comprises a j series of transparent `panels each embodying my inventlon andv collectively united by a metallic frame'into a whole.

In said drawin Figure I is a slde elevation of an ornamental lamp shade which comprises in each panel thereof a form ofv embodiment of my invention.

Figure II is a transverse section of a fragment of a composite sheetk illustrating my invention i'n simplest form of embodiment. 1

Figure III is a similarview of a modifica- -tion of my invention to the extent' of an addition to and incorporation with my composite sheet as shown in Figure II. of a single transparent sheet of glass said glass sheet being used as a supporting plate 'or backing to the composite sheet. l

Figure IV isa similar view of a further modification in which my simple sheet' shown in Figure II is enclosed between two transparent sheets, and is incorporated therewith into aunitary article of manufacture.

Referring to the numerals on the drawing, 1 indicates 'the lower rail of a lamp shade frame which is united to a head 2, as by a partition strip 3. The parts 1, 2, and 3, in

combination are an example only of', one

form of rstructure to which my invention may be usefully applied. Adjacent strips 3 unite with lthe members l and 2 to .define a frame for the accommodation of a panel 4. My invention is concerned only in the panel and its method of manufacture. The panel is representative of a composite sheet or mass of any desired shape, dimensions, and exterior contour. As such it is intended to include any article of the class indicated from smallest to largest sizes, as, for instance, the tiniest mural ornament or jewel to large screens orwindow lights. i

The panel 4, besides being of the representativecapacity indicated above, includes in its composition the .use of individual natural shells 6, whereof a number are arranged around a central shell 7 to constitute Ythe central and ,most conspicuous subordinatedesign of the panel.

Repeating that the design itself constitutes no art of my resent invention it is s ecified/that small translucent articles, as for example shells 6 and 7 denominated coarser ingredient, are united with preferably transarent or translucent particles 8, which I enonnnate an intermediate ingredient, 1n-

' to a stable mass by the aid of a suitable cement, of which, it being preferably of the 5 invisible kind, no attemptat illustration is in degree of comminution, from that of the size of a pea or even in some cases something larger, to the ineness of grains of sand or finer.

If desired, some of the particles used in my compositesheet may-be opaque, and even bri ht metal ma in some instances, be used with pleasing e ect. The genera-l effect of the coarse and intermediate ingredients is always, nevertheless, that of a transparenc Ay suitable, cement for the purpose of my linvention is found, for example, in an article now obtainable in the market under the commercial name Dupont cement and which is both waterproof and transparent.

Of such shells as I use for my purpose, some may be found that are immediately available for use in their natural state; but many of the .most beautiful specimens are,

- I "have found that in a large class their opacity is due to the presence upon them of an outside leathery natural coating. Such coatin is removable by the application of a suitab e acid bath, as, for example, one of dilute hydrochloric acid. The kind of acid and its degree of dilution may be variedre spectively, to a considerable extent for the treatment of different shells.

After preparing the shells, I assemble them in edgewise formation upon the surface of any suitable supporting body, preferablyas specified in the next paragraph below, upon a sheet of glass 9, asis clearly illustrated in Figure III of the drawing, and unite them together by the application of cement asv already specified: If the cement alone is relied u onto unite the shells permanently, the resu tant manufacture will appear in cross section, as in Figure II. IfV they are permanently mounted on a glass sheet 9, the article so produced will appear as shown in Figure III, and if they are assembled and enclosed between two sheets of Experiment and actual use have demon-y strated that it is altogether practicable to construct substantially in the manner described a stable,A strong, and stiif composite sheet made from the ingredients` specified, to wit, shells, or other suitable substance, intermediate ingredient, and cement'. Such a sheet may be,y therefore,`regarded as presilica, 0r shells, or the like, and may vary in their natural state, substantially opaque.

glass, the 3article produced will be ythatov simplest form of embodiment; but for some uses it may be desirable to substitute for said simple form of sheet one incorporated with a supporting sheet or backing 9 (Figure III), which may be made of any suitable transparent material, such for example as glass. Furthermore, if desired, the said simple formof my sheetmay be flanked on opposite sides by sheets l() and 11, respectively, which are in effect, duplicates of the sheet 9.

When sheets 9, or l0 and l1, as above specified are employed, they are by the aid` of cement incorporated with my simple sheet and in eifect made part of one unitary structure or article of manufacture.

Besides the additional strength contributed by employment of backing or supporting plates represented by sheets 9, or 10 and 11, there is one distinct advantage obtained in the use of it or them, namely, t-he smoothness of exterior surface that vfacilitates removal of dust or dirt therefrom.

In carrying out my process of manufacture, selection by color, size and configuration of the constituent elements to be used is carefully made, the color of the shells, if used, .being preferably first developed if necessary in order to such selection. Afterwards the said elements'may be arranged ac-` cording to the design adopted, whatever it may be, and finally the cement is applied to unite the elements into one common mass. The order of manipulation of the several elements may, of course, be varied according to the convenience and' preference of the artist or workman. If a backing sheet 9, 10 or 11 is used, it is employed for setting the attern of` the selected design upon it, and ecomes, upon application of the cement, a constituent elelpent of the completed article.

What I claim is:

1. The art of manufacturing transparencies which 4consists in incorporating according to a preconceived design, coarse and intermediate ingredients respectively permeable to light to constitute a composite selfsustaining mass.

2. The art of manufacturing transparencies Which consists in incorporating by the aid of cement translucent'shells disposed in correlative n edgewise assemblage with a translucent intermediate ingredient, to constitute a composite sheet.

3. The art of manufacturing transparem cies which consists in chemically removing lfrom shells their outside natural coating, to render them permeable to light, and then incorporating them by the aid of cement with an intermediate ingredient also permeable to light, to constitute a composite sheet.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a transparency consisting of a self-sustaining senting the product of my invention in its sheet or mass composed of separate partillt lll

cles combined-in a preconceived design and united together by cement.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a transparency consisting of a sheet com'posed of separate particles including shells permeable to light disposed in edgewise assemblage and united together bycement.

6. As a new artlcle. of manufacture a 'translucent sheet composed of- ,shells ar- 10' ranged in a preconceived design and united by a cementitious binder. v A

7. As a new article of manufacture a translucent self-sustaining sheet composed of shells arranged in a preconceived design and united by a cementitious binder.

8. The art-of manufacturing transparencies Whichconsists in forming a transparent composite sheet, comprising a stratum of shells permeable to light and in edgevvise assemblage, cemented together in any suitable design and cemented to transparent supporting sheets applied to each side of said stratum. Y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set m hand.

y EDWARD H. FENCE. 

